Learning Japanese: "I must be doing this wrong"

September 14, 2024

How often do sentences like these float into your mind while studying?

"I don't understand anything"

"I think I understand what's going on, but I feel like I'm not properly comprehending the sentences"

"I must be doing this wrong"

I think we've all experienced thoughts like the above at some point in our studies. I'm willing to bet that's just part of being human.

But how often does this happen to you? If it's relatively frequent, or you have a few days in a row of this, then I'm willing to bet you have a case of…

Being too hard on yourself.

Being a bit hard on yourself every now and then isn't necessarily a bad thing. It can be a way that our brains ensure we're on track to our goals.

For example, next time you find yourself thinking "I'm understanding but not comprehending this," take some time to really examine that thought. What does that actually mean?

You might find that it doesn't hold much weight. It may just be your brain checking in with yourself. I'd say what you're experiencing is the learning process, rather than something to be worried about.

However, being too hard on yourself too frequently is different.

From what I've seen, thinking "I must be doing something wrong" when you are doing the 3 things you need to learn Japanese (discussed below) tends to derail us more often than it helps us.

It can demotivate us, make us feel stupid or incapable, and even result in us quitting our studies because we're "just not good/smart/capable enough".

How can we avoid this?

Well, first we have to make sure we have the 3 things we need to learn Japanese, which are…

1. A good (preferably comprehensive) core learning-focused resource
2. A healthy handful of native materials
3. Patience and consistency

These are explained in further detail in the (free) Learning Japanese: The Essentials Guide so feel free to check that out if you're curious.

NativShark fills out #1 there, and you pressing this button is part of #3 ↓

After that, just gotta go out and experience / use Japanese in the wild! ^^

You'll need an account to press the above button! Make yours for free here if you don't have one yet:

Okay, so we have the 3 things we need to learn Japanese. Now, let's say we've recognized that we are indeed being too tough on ourselves.

What do we do?

Well, we have to practice one of the most valuable skills in language learning:

Learning to be kind to yourself

As long as you're using a quality core learning-focused material, going out and experiencing Japanese in the wild (after a few months of study), and staying consistent, you're likely well on the path to your goals.

So all you need to do is make sure you don't stop walking down the path.

Next time you notice yourself being too hard on yourself, try defining what is good and what is bad about your comprehension of the Japanese at that exact moment. An example of this might look like:

Good:
- I can read the kana and some of the kanji.
- I think I get the gist of the kanji that I can't read.
- I have a vague idea of the meaning of the sentence.

Bad:
- I want to be able to read this faster and more accurately.
- Not being able to read this kanji is frustrating.
- I don't think I understand this grammar point.

That's a good list ^^ This helps us see through the cloud of negative feelings we have in the moment.

From there, we have something we can work with. First off, we took the time to realize that we have indeed succeeded in reading most of the sentence and getting the gist.

We also have ways forward to solve the negative problems, all of which simply involve reading more and seeing more Japanese 💪

You might also find it helpful to laugh at yourself a bit while thinking "isn't it funny that I'm being so strict with myself?" ^^

Lastly, try to define what the difference between "perfect" and "good enough" is, then aim for "good enough".

As long as we're aiming for small improvements consistently, we are making progress towards our goals. But "perfect" is often too high of a goal to achieve every day, so we end up not trying in the first place, or being overwhelmed by our studies when we do.

So give yourself some encouragement when you put in the effort and make those small improvements! Effort, small improvements, and consistency tend to be the big deciding factors rather than aiming too high and burning out.

And remember things take time. Learning Japanese is a journey measured in years rather than months or weeks ^^

There's a lot of nuance to unpack here so I hope I explained myself well without making it too long of a read!

And again, a lot of this is explained in a slightly different way in this Essentials guide section. I think you'll find that helpful to check out as well~

Good luck with your studies ^^

Open sesame

Did you know you can say this in Japanese too??

Blew my mind to find this out:

Be sure to check out the lesson this came from! It's one of the new Units released recently:

If the above Japanese is difficult for you, all you need to do is keep hitting the Study Now button and you'll understand it when you get there. When using a comprehensive study resource like NativShark, it's just a matter of time and consistency. The above is from a lesson in Phase Three, Unit 285.

NativShark goodie bag

NativShark Units

4 new Units have been added to Phase Three ^^

As always, these Units are filled with vocab with their own unique contexts that help you understand Japanese at a deeper level, any relevant new kanji, and natural conversations called Dialogues at the end.

They also have the following lessons: